A visit to Hisham's grave.. may his soul rest in peace

Finally, today Mahassin and I visit Hisham's grave.  It is always a very emotional exercise....but the graveyard feels peaceful and quiet... Hisham is in a good place!  I can't help but cry - and Najeeb is trying to usher me away, so not to upset the dead.  But I stay for some time and pray for Hisham's soul.  May he be in God's grace!

Our amjad driver comes and picks us up.  And we are off to pick up Souad for lunch.  She takes us to the Rivera Club on the Nile.  Another nice venue.  Souad knows all these nice places to go....

Rivera Recreational Park is another modern park along the shores of the Nile that features outdoor dining and children playing facilities. The recreational facility has a large rental ballroom that is available for the public for hosting events such as weddings. 
Ahh, another possible wedding venue for Walid!!!

After a nice lunch, we drive on, not far, as next door to the club is a historic site:

Abdul Kayum Gate Fort - as far as I remember it was built in the late 18hundreds during Mahdi's time to defend Omdurman.

And then there was this battle ship... original one.....

Then we drive on to visit Bait Khalifa.  Unfortunately, we are too late and it is closed, so we can't go inside.  After some discussion, they let us into the courtyard of the house; and one of the staff there promises to get me a history book on Sudan, when I come back next time.... for the khawaja in the thoab.....

On the way we pass this military tank... I quickly take a photo and hope nobody notices.. I don't want to get arrested!  Would not be good for the khawaja's reputation!  hi hi

Bait Khalifa

And there is Tourist Police... I only encountered them in Cairo before... interesting.

They have some neat original vehicles displayed!

Mahdi's tomb

And on we drive to visit Mamoun's parents (relatives) and Samira and her family (relatives), very lovely people.  Khartoum is so big, it just stretches over a large area... so we drive a lot... we find Samira's house, but get lost looking for Mamoun's parent's house. Poor Souad is on the phone to various people to get directions.  But finally we find it.  We sit and talk.. it is so very nice to see everyone again....Unfortunately, there is never enough time to spend with everyone....  next time!

Next stop Ahsan's place for a  Sudanese BBQ - it was a nice family gathering - we had lots of yummie food - as always at Ahsan's place.

Walid came to pick us up and take us home again.  We were pretty exhausted... it's been a long day, and lots of driving around.  But so nice to spend time with family and relatives!  THANK YOU everyone for the hospitality!

Sabine, Dougal, Lionheart